Millions of Internet Explorer users have just five weeks to upgrade to a newer browser before security patches dry up.

Microsoft blasted a reminder to users earlier this week that after January 12 there will be no more patches to protect against drive-by downloads and other browser vulnerabilities.

That doesn't bode well for the millions affected, considering almost every month Internet Explorer remains one of the most likely targets of hackers and attackers.

As many as 124 million users are running Internet Explorer 10 and earlier, and must update to a newer browser, based on figures extrapolated from the US Digital Analytics program. (An earlier editing error misstated the reasoning behind that figure.)